Shipping and display arrangement for brooms

ABSTRACT

A shipping and display arrangement for push brooms has the broom handles securely fastened to the broom heads with their longitudinal axes parallel by a pair of wire clasps which frictionally engage both the handle and the lower surface of the broom head. The handles are inserted through holes in the top side of a six-sided display box so that the brooms are in the upright position for display, and a five-sided cover with open bottom fits over the display box for shipment and is removed to display the brooms.

United States Patent 1191 Clark June 25, 1974 SHIPPING AND DISPLAYARRANGEMENT 2,639,454 5/1953 Dory 206/47 R FOR BROOMS 2,994,427 8/1961M1115 206/46 BR )4 3,494,201 2/1970 Roach 206/45.l4 UX [75] Inventor:John F. Clark, Mllwau ee, 3,731,333 5/1973 Davis 211/65 x [73] Assignee:Industries For The Blind, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS lnmrpol'atedMllwaukee, 3,201 6/1932 Australia 206/46 BR [22] Filed: Aug. 14,1972 tPrimary ExammerW1ll1am I. Price p 280,666 I Assistant ExaminerSteven E.Lipman 52] us. c1 206/45.l4, 15/145, 206/223, [571 ABSTRACT 206/361, 211/65, '229/ 16 D A shipping and display arrangement for push brooms [51]Int. Cl B6Sd 5/50, B65d 71/00 h e ro m handle ecurely fastened to thebroom [58] Field of Search 15/145, 146, 176; ads th their longitudinalaxes parallel by a pair of 206/l5.1 A, 15.1 B, 15.1 C, 15.1 E, 45.14,wire clasps which frictionally engage both the handle 46 AM, 46 BR, 47R, 65 R, 80 R, DIG, 1 1; and the lower surface of the broom head. Thehandles 211/65; 229/16 D; 248/110, 111; 312/206, 207 are insertedthrough holes in the top side ofa six-sided display box so that thebrooms are in the upright posi- [56] R f renc Cited tion for display,and a five-sided cover with open bot- UNITED STATES PATENTS tom fitsover the display box for shipment and is re- 893,271 7/1908 Snevely206/46 BR moved to dlsplay the broom" 1,593,596 7/1926 Pollak 206/80 R 2Claims, 4 Drawing Figures This invention relates to a shipping anddisplay arrangement for push brooms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Although sweeping brushes such as pushbrooms must be displayed with the head fastened to the handle foreffective merchandising, invariably the merchant will refuse to assemblethe broom head on the handle for display if they are separately shipped.Push brooms are usually sold in lots of a dozen, and a shipping cartoncontaining a dozen push brooms with the handles threaded to the heads isinordinately large. Attempts have been made to ship push broom handlesand heads with the longitudinal axis of the handle parallel to that ofthe head and held together by means such as tape, but this procedure hasnot been successful because the heads often become loose from thehandles during shipment.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide animproved shipping and display arrangement for push brooms which fastensthe broom heads to the handles so that they do not become loose inshipment. Another object of the invention is to provide such an improvedshipping and display arrangement for push brooms which minimizesshipping and display space. Still another object of the invention is toprovide such an improved shipping and display arrangement for pushbrooms which effectively displays a full dozen push brooms with headsfastened to handles in slightly more than one square foot of floor spacewhen the shipping container is opened and which permits the merchant toquickly and easily open the shipping container so that the push broomsare displayed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING These and other objects and advantages of theinvention will be more readily apparent from the following detaileddescription when considered'in conjunction with the accompanying drawingwherein;

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a push broom with the head fastened to thehandle in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the push broom arrangement of FIG. 1 and withan alternative form of the clasps shown in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a dozen push brooms, having head andhandle fastened as shown in FIG. 1 and 2, assembled in a shipper-displaycarton in accordance with the invention, the removable cover of thecarton being shown in dash-dot lines; and

FIG. 4 is a partial view taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, aconventional push broom is illustrated having an elongated wooden handlewith a male thread 11 at one end adapted to engage in a female threadedhole 14 in a wooden broom head 15. Broom head 15 may be a rectangularhardwood block with bristles 16 secured thereto in conventional manner.

Broom head 15 is fastened adjacent the threaded end of handle 10 withthe longitudinal axes of the head and handle parallel to each other andwith the handle 10 disposed contiguous to the top surface 17 of broomhead 15 in the position desired for shipping and display. A pair ofgenerally U-shaped fasteners, or clasps 18 with laterally bent, orturned in ends, or prongs 19 which fit beneath the bottom edges of broomhead 15 clamp handle 10 to head 15 for shipment and display. Handle 10fits with the bight of the generally U-shaped clasps 18 so that the legs21 of the clasps 18 abut against the side edges of rectangular broomhead 15 and the tumed-in prongsl9 are parallel to the bottom surface ofbroom head 15. Clasps l8 may be constructed of relatively stiff wire andare so dimensioned that they pull the handle 10 toward the top surface17 of broom head 15 andagainst a pull tab 23 when the prongs 19 areforced beneath the bottom edges of head 15. An alternative form oftheclasps 18 is shown in dotdash lines in FIG. 2 which 'more closelyconfirms to handle 10.

The pair of clasps 18 are spaced apart longitudinally of broom head 15so that they are disposed near the ends of head 15, and a pull tab 23,which may be of relatively thick corrugated board, is disposed betweenhandle 10 and top surface 17 at a location between clasps 18. Pull tab23 tends to bow, or arch the portion of handle 10 between the clasps 18to thereby increase the frictional engagement between handle 10 and thebight of the clasps 18 and also increase the frictional engagementbetween prongs l9 and the lower surface of head 15.

The purchaser of a push broom may easily disengage broom head 15 fromhandle 10 by pulling tab laterally out between handle 10 and top surface17, thereby permitting handle 10 to be freely moved longitudinallyrelative to broom head 15 and out of the clasps 18.

The shipping container shown in FIG. 3 preferably includes a six-sided,vertically elongated, corrugated board display box 30 having a dozenspaced apart holes 31 in its top side 32 which receive the unthreadedends of the handle 10, thereby holding the push brooms in the uprightposition for display with the heads 15 fastened securely to the handles10 (in the manner shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) nested closely together sothat shipping and floor space is minimized.

The threaded ends of the handle 10 protrude slightly above the heads 15when the brooms are assembled in display box 30, and a rectangularsupporting pad 34 of corrugated board having a dozen holes to freelyreceive the handles 15 may fit over the handles to prevent lateralmovement of the upper end of the handles 10 during shipment while thelower ends of the handles are prevented from moving laterally by the topside 32- of display box 30.

The corrugated board cover 40 of the shipping container is five-sidedwith an open bottom which fits snugly over display box 30'and may befastened thereto by a band of tape (not shown) for shipment. The topside of cover 40 rests against the broom handles 10 and the supportingpad 34 fits snugly within cover 40 to thereby prevent lateral andvertical movement of the handles 10 during shipment, while the clasps 18prevent the heads from falling off the handles 10.

In order to display the push brooms, a merchant need only remove thetape holding cover 40 to display box 30 and lift off cover 40 andsupporting pad 34. The

push brooms are held by display box 30 in the desired upright positionfor display with broom heads 15 secured to handles by clasps 18. I

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters of Patent of thisUnited States is: i

l. A push broom shipping and display arrangement comprising, incombination, a rectangular block push broom head carrying a multiplicityof bristles, an elongated, round, push broom handle having one enddisposed contiguous to the flat upper surface of said push broom head sothat the longitudinal axis of said head and said handle are parallel,

a pair of generally U-shaped clasps spaced apart longitudinally of saidhead and fitting over said handle and said head and clamping said handleto said head with said handle in the bight of said U-shaped clasps andthe legs of said clasps embracing the side edges of said head, the endsof said legs being bent toward each other and fitting beneath the lowersurface of said head, and

a pull. tab disposed between said handle and said upper surface of saidhead located between said clasps tending to bow said handle and therebyincrease the frictional engagement between said handle and said bightand also between said bent ends of said legs and the lower surface ofsaid head to prevent relative movement between head and handle duringshipment and display.

2. A push broom shipping and display arrangement comprising incombination,

a six-sided display and shipping box having a plurality of spaced apartholes in its top side,

a push broom handle and head assembly inserted vertically into each ofsaid holes, each said assembly including a push broom head in the shapeof a rectangular block carrying a multiplicity of bristles, anelongated, round push broom. nandle having one end disposed in one ofsaid holes and adjacent its other end being contiguous to the flat uppersurface of said push broom head so that the longitudinal axes of saidhead and handle are parallel, a pair of generally U-shaped clasps havingthe ends of the legs thereof bent toward each other spaced apartlongitudinallyof said head and fitting over said handle and said headwith said handle in the bight of said U-shaped clasps and said legsembracing the sides edges of said head and said bent ends of said legsfitting beneath the lower surface of said. head and clamping said handleto said head, and a tab disposed between said handle and said uppersurface of said head located,between said clasps and together with saidclasps tending to bow said handle to thereby increase frictionengagement between said handle and said bight and also between afive-sided cover having an open bottom fitting snugly over said displayand shipping box and the push brooms assembled therein.

1. A push broom shipping and display arrangement comprising, incombination, a rectangular block push broom head carrying a multiplicityof bristles, an elongated, round, push broom handle having one enddisposed contiguous to the flaT upper surface of said push broom head sothat the longitudinal axis of said head and said handle are parallel, apair of generally U-shaped clasps spaced apart longitudinally of saidhead and fitting over said handle and said head and clamping said handleto said head with said handle in the bight of said U-shaped clasps andthe legs of said clasps embracing the side edges of said head, the endsof said legs being bent toward each other and fitting beneath the lowersurface of said head, and a pull tab disposed between said handle andsaid upper surface of said head located between said clasps tending tobow said handle and thereby increase the frictional engagement betweensaid handle and said bight and also between said bent ends of said legsand the lower surface of said head to prevent relative movement betweenhead and handle during shipment and display.
 2. A push broom shippingand display arrangement comprising in combination, a six-sided displayand shipping box having a plurality of spaced apart holes in its topside, a push broom handle and head assembly inserted vertically intoeach of said holes, each said assembly including a push broom head inthe shape of a rectangular block carrying a multiplicity of bristles, anelongated, round push broom nandle having one end disposed in one ofsaid holes and adjacent its other end being contiguous to the flat uppersurface of said push broom head so that the longitudinal axes of saidhead and handle are parallel, a pair of generally U-shaped clasps havingthe ends of the legs thereof bent toward each other spaced apartlongitudinally of said head and fitting over said handle and said headwith said handle in the bight of said U-shaped clasps and said legsembracing the sides edges of said head and said bent ends of said legsfitting beneath the lower surface of said head and clamping said handleto said head, and a tab disposed between said handle and said uppersurface of said head located between said clasps and together with saidclasps tending to bow said handle to thereby increase frictionengagement between said handle and said bight and also between said bentends of said lower surface of said head to prevent relative movementbetween head and handle during shipment and display, and a five-sidedcover having an open bottom fitting snugly over said display andshipping box and the push brooms assembled therein.